Seven pairs of claws
by Inuyashe
Summary: First read my fic *The true Overlord's wrath*. The Steel Claws get an assignment that may just prove fatal - to destroy the last barrier to the overlord's supremacy.
1. Preparations

Blazer: And another fic from this writer has arrived.

Me: Yes and you guys are in it.

Blazer: Quite right.

Me: Enjoy.

* * *

The overlord walked through yet another door on the Iron Fist. He was headed for repair-bay 029 which was located on the opposite side of the vessel. This was one of the times when he realized just how BIG his flagship was. He would need to install warp-pads or something.

Why was he going there, you ask? He was looking for the Steel Claws. You see, the seven androids found out that they liked repairing, building, upgrading, dismantling and so on. Metal had to admit that even he liked to tinker now and then. Eggman , whether they like it or not, left his mark on them.

He reached block M-32c. The doors to the bay were right in front of him. He came closer and tuned his sound receptors.

"Nitro! Put down those chemicals! Don't you know what happens when you mix 'em?!" Blazer's voice sounded. The orange one replied:

"Of course I do. You get a HIGHLY explosive mixture that has enough power to tear a hole in the flagship's plating."

"Precisely. Now, put those vials down!"

"Oh, you're no fun."

"I think we should all calm down." a voice came. A deep, slightly raspy one replied:

"Easy for you to say, Freeze. You're always calm."

"Not to mention boring." a cocky tone went with the voice.

"Better than being a hyperactive idiot, Knockout."

"Why I oughta'..."

"SILENCE!" more like a loud whisper echoed "I can't get the wiring on this thing right with you imbeciles arguing."

"Sorry, Slayer." Both Freeze and Knockout apologized.

* * *

A silence ,broken only by the occasional whack of a hammer or other tool, ensued. Just like always. The claws would first argue, then apologise, then go back to work as if nothing happened. He didn't want to wait any longer, so he opened the door. As soon as he did, the seven instinctively lined up in front of him.

"At ease." they immediately relaxed. Blazer asked:

"Is there something you need, my lord?"

"Yes, indeed I do. And I think you'll like it."

"A mission, then."

"Quite right." he paused, then continued "As you know, the world's military was no match for our armada."

"Yeah, they were destroyed in , like, hours." Knockout added.

"But like in every movie or story, there is always an uprising against the supposed tyrant."

"Yes."

"This rebellion HAD six key figures in it. Team Dark and the Chaotix. Now, it only has three key figures, thanks to the seven of you. And Vector's head makes an interesting trophy in my quarters."

"Yes, my lord. But Team Dark continues to elude us. They are very resourceful."

"Indeed. And they should. They are ,to the humans, the last beacon of light, the last hope of mankind. Without them, the rebellion will crumble."

"Are you implying that our spies have found them, my lord?"

"Yes. And no." the claws looked confused after this remark.

"You see, I have received information where they WILL be, for a certain time."

"Then we should set up an ambush. 200 or so warriors..."

"No. They will be prepared to escape. At least, from something that draws a lot of attention."

"I see." Freeze started "You want us to go to this location and destroy the three, shattering the rebellion in the process."

"Exactly. Those are the basics, all that six of you need to know. I will give Blazer the details. Come with me."

* * *

The two left the repair-bay. Metal knew this was a mere formality since Blazer would tell them everything anyway, but he liked it this way. After some walking, they reached the briefing room. A few golden warriors were there. These were the leaders of individual platoons. A platinum warrior, a commander of 20 platoons, was there as well. The warriors bowed, and then followed them to a round hologram table in the middle of the room.

"So, what are the details, my lord?"

"Straight to the point, as always, eh?" Metal clicked a button and a 3D holographic map appeared above the table. It showed some sort of ruined base in the middle of a jungle valley.

"This is the abandoned MS-base 012. According to our information, Team Dark will come here in four days time. They will have some human backup, but that's nothing to worry about."

"What could they want there?"

"That is the exact question I asked myself. After some searching in our database, I found the answer. Inside that base, Eggman worked on a top-secret prototype chaos generator. He never finished it."

"But then, what is the problem? The rebels can't possibly..."

"With the help of the ultimate life-form, they just might. And if they do, Shadow may actually pose a threat to ME. That, I will not permit."

"Then, let's destroy the generator, if it's so dangerous."

"That's the problem. If we destroy it, Team Dark will never show up. And we may spend another year searching for them."

"I see. The generator is the bait. And the rebellion has spies in the area. They will know of our every larger move."

"Yes. Your mission will therefore have TWO objectives. Destroy Team Dark. And destroy the generator. Simple as that. Now, let's plan HOW you will do it."

After two hours they had a plan. A good one, too.

"Good. Blazer, go tell your team to start preparing. You have three days."

Blazer left. Metal looked at the warriors. He emitted a cackle and said:

"The fall of mankind begins."

* * *

Me: Chapter 1 is at an end.

Darken: Expect more from this soon.

Blazer: What are YOU doing here?!

Darken: Didn't you read the announcement in 'God of Machines' ? I'm gonna' be in most of these conversations.

Blazer: Oh.

Me: Leave a review and wait.


	2. Infiltration, assassination

Me: Chapter 2 is here.

Darken: Yup. And this is where the M rating starts to apply.

Me: Yes. Enjoy.

* * *

He didn't like dropships. He knew they were an invaluable strategic asset, but he still preferred walking. Dropships were always a priority target, since they bring reinforcements to the field. They always carried more troops than allowed, so if they get shot down, you lose more men. And they were either heavily armoured, or fast. Never both.

Blazer wasn't an android that would whine about it, though. He would keep it to himself and try to think of other matters. Like the mission ahead of them. He looked at his six comrades. Freeze, Nitro, Knockout, Mystic, Shock and Slayer. And of course him. Lord Metal's best. This time, even they would be pushed to the limits. He said:

"Let's go over the plan one last time. Freeze, start."

"Sure. We'll split into three teams. Me, you and Mystic will clear out the humans on the outside and then head to the chaos generator, where ,according to our info, we will find the ultimate life-form."

"Good. Nitro?"

"Well, heheh, the second team with me and Knockout will go through the rear. We'll make our way to the no longer-functioning manufacturing plant. There, we should find E-123 Omega and blow him up. We will then try to rendezvous with you at the generator."

"Correct. Shock?"

"Me and Slayer will form the last team. We will infiltrate the base through its ventilation system, make our way to the laboratory area and kill Rouge the bat, who should be there. We will then also try to rendezvous with the others."

"Excellent."

He wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the pilot.

"ETA 4 minutes. Steel Claws, get ready for drop."

"Well, you heard him. Mission start."

* * *

Team one was the first to jump. All three glided through the air, looking for any sign of danger. There was none. They landed on the ground perfectly.

Blazer looked around. No sign of humans or traps. Good. He asked:

"Mystic, can you feel him?" The purple one closed his eyes and concentrated. He answered:

"Yes... I can feel the ultimate inside... somewhere on the way to another source of chaos energy."

"The generator. Okay Freeze, listen up. Take a sniping position. Me and Mystic will go ahead, you cover us."

"Affirmative." He was immediately off.

The other two took a path through the jungle to avoid detection. When they reached a clearing, Blazer scanned the terrain in front of them. There was a band of armed humans and an outdated G.U.N. bipedal battle bot.

"Not much support, eh?"

"Let's not be hasty, Mystic. There may be more nearby. Let's take them out with speed and efficiency."

"Yes."

Mystic warped behind the group and sent a signal to Blazer. The blood-red android then threw a neutron grenade. The robot was the only one that noticed it. It couldn't warn its allies in time. The humans were instantly dead. When the smoke cleared, a robot impaled by several chaos spears could be seen falling to the ground. The two figures stood over the bodies. Suddenly, a human armed with a rocket-launcher appeared from a near-by camouflaged bunker. Before he could even aim, a bullet pierced his skull and he fell to the ground. Blazer sent Freeze a 'Thanks' message and told him to get to their position. He arrived and the three continued. They got on the top of a hill that stood in front of the base and looked at the force in front of them.

Nearly 60 humans and three robots guarded the entrance to the base. They seemed to be more than some rag-tag soldiers, too. Battle armour and everything. This would be a bit more difficult.

"Any ideas, sir?"

"Indeed, one. You stay here and snipe. Mystic will cause some chaos and I go in guns blazing."

"Fairly simple."

Mystic appeared on the humans' left flank and let loose a barrage of chaos spears. He killed a few and damaged one of the robots. The humans quickly reacted. Mystic made a chaos barrier that blocked all the shots that came his way.

"Could use some help here!"

"It's on the way."

Blazer jumped over the hill, an assault rifle in his hands. He started strafing rapidly, shooting at the same time. Freeze started his assault as well, reloading his rifle at light-speed after every headshot. Humans fell rapidly. Mystic finished the robot he damaged before and started impaling soldiers. Blazer jumped on one of the mechs and literally tore out its main processing unit from its head. It fell to the ground. When the last robot fell, the humans' morale was broken. They threw down their weapons, hoping to receive mercy. The three granted none. Blazer took a handgun and executed them all with style. The three then regrouped and headed to the main generator.

* * *

Team two had an easier time. They used the back-entrance and headed toward the facility. They suddenly heard voices. Both instantly hid in the shadows and tuned in. Humans. It was some pointless babble about some sort of game consoles called 'PS3 and XBOX 360'. They seemed to be arguing. Nitro looked at Knockout, an expression that said 'please' written on his face. He nodded. Nitro immediately emitted a cackle and threw a strange bomb in their direction.

"WHAT THE F-"

The soldiers were engulfed by a strange blue energy ball. It made no noise and when it faded, they were gone.

"What the hell was that, Nitro?"

"Heheh. A contained anti-matter explosion. Silent, deadly and pretty."

"Right. Let's get going."

They followed a one-way corridor that led to the plant. They went silently, in case more rebels were around. There were none. They reached the facility and crept in.

The whole place was a MESS. Cryo-capsules shattered into hundreds of pieces laid on the ground. There was only one barely-functioning light on the ceiling, which looked like it could fall at any minute. No sound was heard... except for heavy footsteps. The two followed them. They led team two to a corridor that led to the main data computer. It was then, that they saw him.

Before them was a 4 feet-tall, heavily armed and armoured battle bot, by the name of Omega. He was walking to the computer. Nitro quickly threw a grenade and shouted:

"Sorry, not today!"

The grenade flew over a surprised Omega and detonated near the computer terminal, destroying it. He looked at his foes.

"Main objective reset. Destroy assailants."

"Oh, yeah? Come and get some, trash can."

Omega activated his thrusters and charged at the two androids. They dodged, but were immediately bombarded by barrage of AP bullets. The two hid behind temporary cover and changed positions rapidly. Omega stopped firing, his guns needing to recharge. Knockout took the chance. He jumped out of his hiding place and sprayed the whole surrounding area with two sub-machine guns. Omega turned his arms into a sort-of shield that protected him. Not for long.

Nitro threw a handful of small sticky bombs. They attached themselves to the shield and detonated. The shield held, although it was heavily damaged. Knockout charged at the robot and delivered a powerful blow. The shield literally cracked. Omega shifted his hands back to claws and tried to tear the android to bits. Knockout dodged successfully, but then, he tripped and Omega caught him by the neck. The large bot was about to snap it in half, but Nitro shouted:

"Knockout, go into stand-by mode for ten seconds1"

He did as he was told. Omega didn't respond in time. Nitro threw a special grenade that emitted a bright flash.

Omega suddenly went limp, unresponsive. Knockout freed himself from the robots grip and looked at Nitro. The orange one answered:

"Special 'nade. It destroys any devices that have activated electric circuits within them."

"So, is he...?"

"Yes. But he can still be repaired. Let's finish this."

"Affirmative."

Nitro put some explosives on the robot. They then went a considerable distance away.

"Let's start the fireworks!"

Nitro pushed a button and the most powerful E-series robot was no more. They enjoyed the view and then went to the rendezvous point.

* * *

"I hate tight spaces." Slayer suddenly told Shock.

"Why? Are you claustrophobic?"

"NO. I have no such weakness. There's just not much room left to dodge from a surprise attack."

"Well, yeah. But who puts lasers into ventilation tunnels?"

"Eggman, lord Metal. Should I continue?"

"No, I got the message."

Team three's infiltration was the easiest, but also the longest. Crawling through the base's nearly endless ventilation tunnels was a tiring task. They seemed to be lucky, though. All defence systems appeared to be off-line or destroyed. They were nearing their goal – the laboratory area. Slayer signalled a stop.

Through a went he could see their target. Rouge was accompanied by 8 soldiers. But they had the element of surprise. And Slayer knew how to use it. He looked at Shock, who nodded. Slayer activated his stealth field and silently removed the vent. He jumped out and landed in the laboratory.

"Huh?" One of the soldiers turned. When he saw nothing, he continued walking.

Slayer followed the group. Shock was close behind. They got to a sort of crossroad and split. Two groups of 3 soldiers in two directions, two soldiers with Rouge. Slayer sent a message that he'd follow the soldiers that went left. Shock pursued the ones that went right.

"So, do you think Shadow can beat the tyrant with the generator?"

"Of course, he can! That old trash can will be no match!"

"Yeah, but... wait, did you hear something?"

All three turned. Nothing could be seen. Two went forward, but one lingered. That was a mistake. In less than a second, his throat was sliced in half, his severed head fell to the floor. The other two turned.

"What the hell?!"

Those were the humans' last words. Two heads fell to the ground. Slayer cleaned the blood from his blades and then pursued Rouge's group.

The other group didn't have any more luck. Their scorched bodies emitted a foul odour. Shock would've enjoyed their screams, but he needed to be swift. Both androids now followed Rouge to weapon lab 83c. Rouge went straight to a console. She looked at the data before. It was data they already had, therefore useless. A scream caught her attention. She turned and saw a two bodies fall to the floor.

A shadow look-alike stood there, another appeared out of nowhere. She took a battle stance and said:

"So, Metal sent his hounds?"

"No. Hounds would grant mercy."

Slayer disappeared and charged. Rouge dodged with ease and kicked the android into some machine.

"That trick won't work on me, sweetie."

"How 'bout this, then?"

Shock took a strange tube. It turned into a energy-whip.

"Let's see how loud you scream."

He attacked, but Rouge expertly dodged and threw a small bomb. Shock was forced to dodge. When he did, a powerful kick connected with his face. He was sent flying. Rouge wanted to attack him again, but had to dodge a flurry of slashes from Slayer. Shock recovered and threw a net at the bat.

She dodged and the net almost hit Slayer. The assassin caught it and threw it at the bat. This time, the net hit. The net released a mighty bolt of electricity into her body and she fell unconscious.

Shock would've tortured her , in many ways, on a different occasion. But this time, time was of the essence. Slayer merely cut her throat and they were on their way.

Team one already reached the rendezvous point and already saw their target. It would be a grand battle.

* * *

Me: Wait for 'sniff' chapter 3 for the finale.

Darken: What's the matter?

Me: I caught a cold. 'sniff' But it's better now.

Darken: Kay. Well, boys and girls behind the monitors, review and wait for the next chapter.


	3. Showdown

Blazer: The showdown you have all been waiting for is here.

Darken: Yeah. Although it is strange for the author to put his favourite character in grave danger.

Me: No one asked me if I like it...

Darken: Oh.

Me: Whatever, enjoy the fic.

* * *

"Damn it! There isn't anything generator-related in this stupid terminal." The black hedgehog was furious. The doctor wanted his experiment to remain unfinished. He whispered to himself:

"I guess he feared a scenario where one of his enemies would use the thing's power against him. But he met his end at the hands of a different creation."

It didn't matter. He was the ultimate, wasn't he? He would MAKE the generator work. He was worried about his friends, though. They didn't bring any communication devices so that they wouldn't be discovered. He hoped it was enough.

"Hello, Shadow the hedgehog." A too familiar voice called. He turned and saw the leader of the Steel Claws, Blazer, along with the purple Mystic and dark-blue Freeze.

"What?! How did you...?!"

"Find out about your little mission? Easy. You have a traitor in your ranks, who was more than happy to share his knowledge."

"No..."

"Yes. But not ALL the information about your little resistance. Only about this quest of yours. Which is a pity."

"I suppose the rest of you are around here somewhere."

"Correct and... give me a sec." Blazer read the two messages that came from team two and team three. "Excellent."

"What?" He asked. But deep inside, he knew the terrible truth.

"I am sorry to inform you about this..." Shadow's legs went numb, he couldn't stand, he fell to his knees instead. "but your two closest friends have departed from this world. I am terribly sorry."

"It can't be..."

"I'm afraid it can. And YOU, are next."

Shadow suddenly rose, a tear running down his cheek.

"NO. YOU are the ones who will die!" A red aura engulfed the hedgehog, who seemed to have lost it. He looked at Blazer, hate and rage searing from his eyes.

The three claws assumed battle positions. Shadow charged at incredible speed and nearly hit Blazer. The red android barely dodged and kicked Shadow in the back. He didn't even stir. Shadow instead charged again, this time at Freeze. The sniper's speed was insufficient. He was sent flying and hit a wall, knocked-out.

Mystic released a barrage of chaos spears. Shadow retaliated with chaos lances. The attacks met and detonated, leaving behind a cloud of smoke. In the blink of an eye, Shadow got near Mystic and delivered a series of blows that severely damaged the android. Shadow wanted to destroy Blazer, but:

"Fire in the hole!"

3 grenades landed near the black hedgehog and detonated. When the smoke cleared, he still stood, without a scratch. Knockout came close and unloaded a flurry of kicks and punches at him. Shadow merely said:

"Ineffective." He used chaos control. Next thing they knew, Nitro and Knockout were together and about to be hit by a massive chaos lance.

"Four down, three to go."

He blocked air , it seemed. He snapped Slayer's blade in two and punched him with such force that his inner circuitry was now visible. A bolt of electricity headed for the ultimate. He reflected it back at it's user, who was amazed, but soon was pummelled by the enraged hedgehog. When Shock fell to the ground, he turned to the leader:

"One to go."

"Bring it, emo-boy."

"Why you...!"

Shadow charged, intent on crushing Blazer. The android dodged and shot at the ultimate with his rifle. Bullets were deflected from the chaos aura around him. He took the rifle from Blazer's hand and snapped it in half. He tried to do the same with the android's neck, but Blazer caught his arm and , with all his strength, threw him into a wall. The black one came back and commented:

"You are indeed the leader. But you are nothing against me."

"Perhaps."

Shadow attacked again. This time, he caught the android and wanted to crush him. But Blazer took some sort of device and attached it to Shadow's chest. The ultimate fell to the ground, his chaos-form dissipating.

"What is this thing?"

"You mean that little thing on your chest? A prototype chaos-nullifier. Lord Metal knew you would go into that form. He gave me the device to counter your strength."

"He always was a coward."

"Hmm?"

"Sending you instead of coming here by himself. A true coward."

"Au contraire. He just can't be bothered with insects like you."

With those last words, Blazer ran a bullet through his skull.

He woke up the rest of his team. Nitro set bombs around the generator. The Steel Claws then left the base and Nitro pushed a big red button. As the fireworks lit the sky, a dropship came over the nearest mountain. It landed in front of them and its doors opened. The overlord was inside, seemingly full of joy.

"My lord, our mission was a complete success. All targets have been destroyed."

"I can see that. But that is secondary. You are all damaged, we must quickly get you repairs."

They got on and the dropship immediately set course for the fleet. Silver warriors started appearing from the surrounding woods and flew around the dropship for protection. Inside, Blazer was puzzled. He asked the overlord:

"My lord, why was our safety primary?"

He remained silent for a while, then answered:

"You are my elite. My best, strongest and most skilled warriors. Each of you is unique, a master of a certain field. Losing you would have been a large blow. Plus, you seven are ,you could say, my friends."

"Friends? My lord... we are honoured." All seven said, surprised.

"Heheh. Think nothing of it. I have studied this thing called 'friendship' for some time, and I still can't quite understand it. Perhaps because I was not meant to learn it. But from what I know, I'd say you indeed are my friends."

"Thank you, my lord." All seven again.

They remained silent for the duration of the flight. At the fleet, the claws got repairs and together with the overlord, started planning the destruction of the rebellion.

* * *

At rebel base Gamma-18, the news about Team Dark's death reached every soldier and civilian. All were suddenly full of despair and fear. The base leader even considered surrender. All were filled with sorrow, save for one.

Why should he be? He knew it would happen beforehand. He knew it even before he betrayed the team. Back then, on the last battlefield.

Metal had actually told them where he would attack with his army. G.U.N. brought as many weapons and soldiers as they could. He was one of them, just trying to help mankind. It was no use. When Metal's armada unloaded from the overlord's dropships, they instantly wanted to surrender, but they didn't. The battle itself took _minutes._ Wait, it wasn't a battle. It was a slaughter. G.U.N. didn't stand a chance.

Then this rebellion. Started by the six heroes that the overlord LEFT alive. They had it coming to them. Even the Chaotix's demise was his doing.

Why did he do this, you ask? For the good of mankind, of course. Those six held the rebellion together. The more we would resist, the more cruel would the overlord be. And resistance against his rule was futile, so why even bother?

But he didn't want to see what was left of this world fall apart. He picked up his gun from a table on his right and pointed it between his eyes. He pulled the trigger.

Everyone thought he killed himself because of the news.

* * *

Me: Did you expect a name?

Darken: Umm, yes?

Me: Tough luck, then. Review, please.


End file.
